1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of wheelbarrows.
2. Background of the Invention
Wheelbarrows have been used for centuries, with the basic principles of leverage and the wheel converging to assist with transport of heavy items over ground. Although there are written descriptions of wheelbarrows dating to the first century B.C., the oldest surviving picture, a frieze relief from a tomb-shrine in Szechuan province of China, dates from about 118 A.D. Other sources recite that the first wheelbarrows were purportedly developed by Chuko Liang (181-234 A.D.) of China, a general who used the wheelbarrows to transport supplies to injured soldiers. (http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blwheelbarrow.htm). These first wheelbarrows had two wheels and required two men to propel and steer. Wheelbarrows are not believed to have arrived in Europe before the eleventh or twelfth century, with the earliest known Western depiction in a window at Cartres Cathedral dated around 1220 A.D. http://inventors.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://library.thinkquest.org/23062/wbarrow.html). Since the arrival of the wheelbarrow centuries ago, many improvements have been fashioned to ease the workload on the user, with a variety of improvements documented in the United States patent office. Notable improvements include U.S. Pat. No. 207,222 to Tennent (1878) (barrow formed of a continuous wood construction); U.S. Pat. No. 354,775 to Fay (1886) (a leg brace for barrow cargo); U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,710 to Osterkamp (1941) (wheelbarrow with a forward pouring spout); U.S. Pat. No. 1,544,769 to Nalder (1925) (wheelbarrow with a forward tilting load receptacle); U.S. Pat. No. 3,552,760 to Sine (1971) (wheelbarrow with folding and collapsible sides); U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,904 to Puckett (1973) (folding wheelbarrow for compact storage); U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,970 to Andersen (1992) (apparatus for retrofit to an existing wheelbarrow that allows additional pivoted travel of receptacle while dumping cargo); U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,838 to Zimmerman (2005) (wheelbarrow handle featuring a pivoting action that tilts forward the barrow receptacle when handles are pushed down); and U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,089 to Stark (2005) (wheelbarrow featuring a semi-enclosed pouring chute attachment). While each of the foregoing inventions are noble improvements to the wheelbarrow, they do not address in the same manner a present concern of this invention, which is to provide a further improvement to reduce the lifting and tilting required to empty a wheelbarrow.